Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, holds a photograph of her which was taken on May 11, 2010, at his home, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, sits at a table in his home, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Sachiko Okawa, 76, who lost her husband in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, poses for a photograph with her two grandsons Reo and Daina next to Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A seawall stands at a coastal area which was devastated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Ishinimaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The 'Miracle Pine', a tree which is said to symbolise hope and recovery after it survived the 2011 tsunami disaster , stands ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan February 27, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Sachiko Okawa, 76, who lost her husband, Toichiro, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, holds a photograph of her late husband Toichiro, as she visits Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan February 27, 2021. Sachiko who was married to Toichiro for 44 years asks him what he has been doing with his days since he was swept away by the tsunami a decade ago. "I'm lonely," she says. "Bye for now, I'll be back soon." Okawa says she sometimes feels like she can hear Toichiro on the other end of the line. "It makes me feel a little better." REUTERS/Issei Kato

Itaru Sasaki, 76, who built Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth for people to call their deceased loved ones, takes a break inside his home at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Poetry is displayed in frames inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. The poem hanging on the right, reads: "Who will you call, at the phone of the wind, you will talk to them from your heart, if you hear the wind tell them how you feel, surely your thoughts will reach them." REUTERS/Issei Kato

Itaru Sasaki, 76, who built Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth for people to call their deceased loved ones, conducts landscaping work at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Sasaki built the phone booth a few months before the disaster, after he lost his cousin to cancer. "There are many people who were not able to say goodbye," he says. "There are families who wish they could have said something at the end, had they known they wouldn't get to speak again," Sasaki said. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, gently strokes his late wife Miwako's tomb stone, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A disconnected phone sits inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Many survivors say the unconnected phone line helps them keep in touch with their loved ones and gives them some solace as they grapple with their grief. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Itaru Sasaki, 76, who built Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth for people to call their deceased loved ones, conducts landscaping work at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. A few months ago, Sasaki says he was approached by organisers who want to set up similar phones in Britain and Poland that would allow people to call relatives they had lost in the coronavirus pandemic. "Just like a disaster, the pandemic came suddenly and when a death is sudden, the grief a family experiences is also much larger," he said. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Sachiko Okawa, 76, who lost her husband in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, calls her late husband with her two grandsons Reo and Daina inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. "Grandpa, it's been 10 years already and I'm going to be in middle school soon," says Daina. "There's this new virus that's killing lots of people and that's why we're wearing masks. But we're all doing well." Photograph taken with remote camera. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, visits her grave at a cemetery, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A disconnected phone sits inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. Many survivors say the unconnected phone line helps them keep in touch with their loved ones and gives them some solace as they grapple with their grief. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A woman from Ofunato who lost her junior high school classmates in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, calls her late friends inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, stands under a starry sky at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Many survivors say the unconnected phone line helps them keep in touch with their loved ones and gives them some solace as they grapple with their grief. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A note, hand-written by a visitor, is seen inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. The note reads: "See you someday! Until then, be fine. Let's talk about memories while drinking. Everyone is fine too. Let's tell a lot of fun stories." REUTERS/Issei Kato

Footmark prints are seen at a beach which was devastated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Ishinimaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, stands at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Many survivors say the unconnected phone line helps them keep in touch with their loved ones and gives them some solace as they grapple with their grief. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Sachiko Okawa, 76, who lost her husband, Toichiro, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, calls her late husband inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Sachiko who was married to Toichiro for 44 years asks him what he has been doing with his days since he was swept away by the tsunami a decade ago "I'm lonely," she says. "Bye for now, I'll be back soon." Okawa says she sometimes feels like she can hear Toichiro on the other end of the line. "It makes me feel a little better." REUTERS/Issei Kato

A man fishes on top of a seawall, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, reacts as he calls his late wife inside Kazo-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. Inside, Sasaki dials his wife's cellphone number. He explains how he searched for her for days. "It all happened in an instant, I can't forget it even now," he says, weeping. "I sent you a message telling you where I was, but you didn't check it. When I came back to the house and looked up at the sky, there were thousands of stars, it was like looking at a jewel box," he added. "I cried and cried and knew then that so many people must have died." REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, looks at the former residential area which was devastated by the disaster, near the grave of his late wife ahead of the 10th anniversary the disaster, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Kazuyoshi Sasaki, 67, who lost his wife, Miwako, in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, reacts as he steps out of Kazo-no-Denwa (The phone of the Wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, after calling his late wife, ahead of the 10th anniversary of when the disaster happened, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, February 27, 2021. "It all happened in an instant, I can't forget it even now," Sasaki said when he explained how he searched for her for days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami a decade ago, visiting evacuation centres and makeshift morgues, returning at night to the rubble of their home. "I sent you a message telling you where I was, but you didn't check it," he added. "When I came back to the house and looked up at the sky, there were thousands of stars, it was like looking at a jewel box," he said. "I cried and cried and knew then that so many people must have died." REUTERS/Issei Kato

A woman from Ofunato who lost her junior high school classmates in the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, calls her late friends inside Kaze-no-Denwa (the phone of the wind), a phone booth set up for people to call their deceased loved ones, at Bell Gardia Kujira-yama, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato